Page 73 of Runaway
Her creaky voice soothed the rattled soul inside me. She always underplayed her birthday, then overplayed mine. It was our favorite game.
“The mountain getaway continues to be wonderful,” I said, “and it's so lovely up here. I wish you could see it. I'll snap some pictures. There's a storm blowing in and it's just starting to snow.”
“Sounds magical. Is it that boyfriend of yours?”
Shock rendered me momentarily surprised. Had I mentioned Mark to her? Yes, but not with that word.
“Boyfriend?” I asked.
“The one that brought me the flowers a while ago. Oh, what's his name?” She tutted under her breath while my heart turned to ice. “Something with a J. He called to tell me happy birthday this morning. Wasn't that kind of him? Joe, was it?”
“Flowers?” I repeated needlessly.
“Jonathon?” she mused. “No, that's not quite it . . .”
“Joshua?”
“That's the one! Nice guy. Bit . . . unusual though. He said you met at work. Why haven't you mentioned him? Seemed pretty odd that he was all the way down in Florida, but I do appreciate the thought.”
My spine straightened with a snap. Joshua had visited my grandma. When? How? What . . . The questions filled my mind like a snowglobe. I had to force them to settle by taking a deep breath.
Was he trying to frighten me? Threaten me? What was his game? Why fly all the way to Florida from Cincinnati to talk to my grandma?
Unlessthatwas how he found me.
My latest number with Mark hadn't received any calls or texts from Joshua or an unknown number, but that didn't mean he didn't have it. Could he track just a phone number? Locate me that way? Probably somehow . . .
“Grandma, Joshua is . . . he's not my boyfriend. He's . . . a delusional man that I used to work with.”
“What?”
The confusion in her voice cut at me. This is exactly what I wanted to spare her from. Following me was one thing, but my grandma? I licked my lips and fought for control.
“What did he say to you while he was there?” I asked instead.
Flustered now, she fumbled around. “Oh, we talked about you and your job and how much you love numbers and how you were taking a little sabbatical to be in the mountains for a bit. He helped me program your new number into my phone.”
My eyes closed. The sneaky, nasty devil. He must have been there days ago, got my number, and somehow tracked me here. He clearly had access to my clients' information. Had he known I was at Mark's? Made a wild guess, then confirmed it?
“I see,” I murmured.
“Stella Marie, is something wrong? Is he not your boyfriend?”
“No, grandma. Joshua is a sick man that's following me. I left my job to get away from him, in fact. It's why I'm in the mountains.”
“Oh, dear.” Horror filled her tone. “And he was here. I talked about you. Was that wrong? I didn't know, I—”
“Grandma, you did nothing wrong.”
“Are you safe, Stella Marie? Have you called the cops or—”
“Yes. Very safe. Mark, my real boyfriend, is here with me all the time. Where I am is safe and you don't have to worry about that. Has Joshua called or come back since his first visit?”
Dismissing the fact that I easily called Mark my boyfriend—and felt about ten years old for it—was easy. Mark was a natural part of my life now. Horrifying circumstances aside, I couldn't wait for him to meet grandma.
“No. I'm sorry I forgot to mention it to you,” Grandma said. “He came a week or so ago. Maybe more? It just . . . it slipped my mind. You know how things are slippery these days and—”
“You did great,” I said firmly. “Thank you for telling me now.”
